Labourer No. 38, 2024,
mixed media on xuan paper and bamboo
accompanied by AI voice in Javanese (from Rudi Hendriatno’s text translation of Mah's poem)
Open-source Gamelan music
(H) 65 x (W) 26 x (D) 15 cm
mixed media on xuan paper and bamboo
accompanied by AI voice in Javanese (from Rudi Hendriatno’s text translation of Mah's poem)
Open-source Gamelan music
(H) 65 x (W) 26 x (D) 15 cm
In the silent whispers of a Javanese woman, her skeletal remains speak a narrative of a life disrupted and a spirit that refused to break. Taken from her village in Java, she found herself in the Maluka Kingdom of Banjarmasin, under the rule of Alexander Hare—Resident of Banjarmasin and Commissioner of the Island of Borneo, appointed by Stamford Raffles. In this small kingdom, her identity was erased, consumed by colonial desires. Former labourer no. 38, she now serves in Hare’s harem. Yet, in the muteness of history, her voice emerges, recounting the bleakness of her existence, the cherished memories of her home in Java, and the love that once made her heart whole. Her words are a lamentation, reflecting the harsh reality faced by the vulnerable under the forces of colonisation.
Raffles' efforts to address labour shortages in the plantations of Banjarmasin, he often found women guilty of minor crimes and had them shipped to Hare.
Raffles' efforts to address labour shortages in the plantations of Banjarmasin, he often found women guilty of minor crimes and had them shipped to Hare.